Absences
If your child has been ill with a communicable disease, such as chicken pox or head lice, she/he must see a school nurse to be readmitted. Call the office to find out if our nurse will be present or if you will have to go to another campus to see a nurse. If your child has been sent home on account of fever, she/he must be fever-free for 24 hours before coming back to school.

If your child is absent, whatever the reason, please call the office that morning or send a note when the student returns to school. Will Rogers School receives funding from the state based upon daily attendance. After three unexcused absences, parents will receive notification from the school and may be required to meet with the principal.

If your child is going to be absent for more than 5 days for reasons other than illness (e.g. travel), there is an independent study program that she/he can use to keep up with her/his studies. Please speak to your child's teacher and also come to the office a week in advance of the absence to arrange for this. The school can still receive state funds if the independent study is completed.

Arrival and Dismissal
All students are to enter and exit via the school's main entrance on 14th Street. Parents, please adhere to Santa Monica Municipal Code § 133372: "No stopping, no parking, no standing in a red zone." This violation carries a $45.00 fine even if you are in your vehicle and, more importantly, it is dangerous for our students crossing in the crosswalk.

The crossing guards are trained to stop traffic and to cross our children. Please do not coax your child, with a horn honk or a yell, to cross the street at any point. Teach your child to be safe and to follow the crossing guard's directions.

14th Street is a busy thoroughfare with a limited drop-off area. Please do not double park, do not pull into the teachers' parking area or allow your children to enter through the parking lot, and do not park in the bus zone. If you must drive, limited parking is available on the west sides of 14th and 16th Streets.
Do not send your children to school before 8:10 a.m., Monday through Thursday or before 9:30 a.m. on Friday. There is no supervision before this time.

Great Expectations
Will Rogers Learning Community has high expectations that each and every child will develop into a responsible citizen. This process begins with developmentally appropriate rules of behavior that all students can understand and follow. Logical and consistent consequences are then applied when the rules are not followed. These consequences are what we typically call "discipline."

The word discipline comes from the Greek, meaning to teach. The purpose of discipline at Will Rogers is to positively influence student behavior. We expect children to make mistakes; it's important that they learn from those mistakes so as not to repeat them. Equally important is for all families to support our efforts when consequences must be applied. This is not always easy. As parents, we want to be advocates for our children. We want to know that rules and consequences are applied fairly and justly for our children. But, advocating for our children also means helping them to understand their mistakes and to accept appropriate consequences.
Will Roger's discipline program is called "Great Expectations" because we expect all students to develop self-discipline and self-control, we expect students to think before they act by asking themselves these five questions which are posted around the school:

• Is it respectful?
• Is it kind?
• Is it safe?
• Does it promote learning?
• Does it protect property?

The question format allows for critical thinking on the part of students and is open ended enough to address any inappropriate behavior. Specific behavior standards that relate to each question and specific consequences for not following school rules are spelled out in our Behavior Standards contract. THESE STANDARDS, ALONG WITH SAFETY RULES TO AND FROM SCHOOL ARE PRESENTED IN THE NEXT SECTION. Contracts are sent home at the beginning of each school year for students and parents to sign. Working together as a learning community, we can reach the high expectations we have set for each and every child.